The use of pacemaker electrodes for myocardial stimulation of the heart are known from DE 2 219 044.9 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,355,642. Serving there as anchors are epicardial screw electrodes, which must be screwed into a fatless area of the exterior of the heart in order to attain a sufficient stimulus threshold. Moreover, such electrodes require visual contact with the heart during the implantation. The necessary size of these electrodes and their anchoring means can lead to considerable problems, primarily in the case of juvenile hearts. If a biventricular stimulation of the heart is required, these relatively large anchors of the individual electrodes must be situated on both the left and the right ventricles.
There is a need therefore for an electrode arrangement of the type specified, whereby the opening of the rib cage is hardly required, since minimally-invasive access to the heart is enabled, and yet the electrode can be securely fixed in the myocardium without requiring consideration of the outer fat layer. At the same time, the space required for applying the electrode to the exterior heart surface should be kept to a minimum.